


Be combative or be sweet cherry pie

by Dylanobrienisbatman



Series: 800dylanobrienisbatman [10]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coffee Shops, Crushes, Emori could kill a man even in modern AU and Murphy loves it, F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Physical Disability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 14:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15221030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dylanobrienisbatman/pseuds/Dylanobrienisbatman
Summary: Murphy meets Emori when she sits next to him in class, and he spends the next few months just revelling in her general existence. So when he watches her terrify a guy who says something outta line, he can't help but be completely bowled over by her.(Prompt: Memori Fluff "Are you flirting with me?")





	Be combative or be sweet cherry pie

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written memori before so pls be kind to me <3

Murphy was sitting in his Cold War history class, eating chips ahoy cookies from a ziploc, 3 weeks in, when a girl plopped into the seat to his right, settling her books around her, and leaning back into her seat. He looked over, and studied her. She had a simple but intricate tattoo across her brow and down over her nose, thin lines and swirls drawing attention to her brown eyes and tan skin, and her left hand was resting on the table, giving him full view of the larger fingers, some melded together at the middle joints, and wider than the other. He looked up to see her watching him. She raised her eyebrow, daring him to speak up.

“John Murphy.” He said, meeting her stare, offering her a cookie from the bag in his hand. 

“Emori Pereira.” She took a cookie, cautiously, never breaking eye contact.

“Cool hand.” He said, watching her bite into the cookie. She smiled, a little dubious, and that was that.

She sat next to him in every class after that, 9am Tuesday and Thursday in a big lecture hall, listening to Professor Theloniuos Jaha drone on and on about the Soviet Union while he tried to not pay attention to the way the hairs on his arms stood up when her arm brushed his on the table, or the way his neck would heat up when she complimented his bomber jacket with red shoulder cap with spikes on it. He tried to ignore the way his heart sank when she didn’t show up, and how much he wished he had her number, just to send her a text and check on her. He was unsuccessful in ignoring pretty much all of those things.

They were assigned a group project and she nodded at him when he looked over, trying to signal that he wanted her to be his partner, and he figured that was a start.

They met in the library that Saturday morning, mid October, and he was settled into the table already when she showed up, smiling at him and dropping her bag on the table.

“Hey Emori.”

“Hi John, ready to get to work?” He nodded, and they flipped open the first books in the massive stack they had collected, and dug in. They had been reading for about two hours, writing notes and sliding papers back and forth, but his eyes were getting blurry and every page was starting to look the same, so he looked up, met with her head bobbing down and jerking back up in half sleep.

“Wanna relocate? Find a coffee shop… caffeinate?”

“Ohhh yes. Caffeine sounds perfect.” They collected all their books, distributing them between their bags and wandering out into the cloudy afternoon and finding a little local place, taking over a whole table in the back corner, ordering the biggest lattes they had, and the conversation turned to anything but the Cold War.

“Yeah my dad went to prison when I was a kid, he died there when I was about 12.” He said, halfway through his life story over the dregs of his first latte. She nodded.

“Yeah well, my parents dumped me, my older brother raised me.”

“Well if were competing, my mom died when I was 16, drank herself to death.”

“Well aren’t we a pair.” She said, standing up and collecting their cups. “Want another?”

“Maybe a green tea?” She nodded, walking down the stairs to order the second round, leaving him for a minute to dwell on them being labeled as a pair.

The next few weeks saw them falling into a routine. They finished their paper three days early, and just kept… having coffee. They spent Saturday afternoons over caffeine, Tuesdays and Thursdays after class they’d get lunch, getting to the point where they spent time together whenever there was a break, always under the guise of school or studying, until one Saturday, over croissants and lattes, hers matcha his hazelnut, when she pipped up.

“So… we spend a lot of time together lately?”

“Yeah…”

“If you maybe wanted to spend time together like, outside of class…”

“I could be into that.”

“Yeah, thats what I was going for.” She lifted her cup to take a sip when a man at the table next to her scoffed, giving a pointed look at her hand. They both turned, sharp, fury burning behind their eyes.

“Did you need something?”

“Just… you could cover that thing up, you know. It’s sort of gross.”

Murphy would like to think that he was usually pretty rational minded, to a point, but the speed at which he stood up, almost knocking over the table to jump to her defence. Emori reached across the table, holding his wrist, shaking her head imperceptibly. She smiled, sickly sweet, sending a child up his own spine, and the man shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Didn’t realise my general existence was so troubling, so sorry about that.” He tried to avoid her eyes, but she moved her head to stay in his line of sight. “I’ll keep that in mind next time I want to go out in public or something, dickhead.”

She smiled again, but it came off more like she was baring her teeth at him, like she’d rip out his jugular with them if she had the chance. She picked up her latte, drinking the last sips, standing up from the table and sliding her hand down to take his in it, which he barely noticed because he was reeling from how stunning she looked when she might be about to kill someone, and led them out of the cafe. They got around a corner and she leaned against the wall, blowing out a long breath through her teeth, shutting her eyes. She didn’t let go of his hand.

“That was… terrifying.” He said, smiling, a little dazed.

“Are you flirting with me?” She joked, eyes still closed. He paused, and took a breath, and took her in. Her tattoo was a stark contrast against her brown skin, her long eyelashes brushing her cheeks. Her hand was warm in his, her other hand, larger and a little mangled, resting on her thigh, her shoulders exposed in her off shoulder crop top, her stomach tan and firm. She was probably the best thing he’d ever seen, if he had to guess. He let go of her right hand and took his left one instead, which got her to open her eyes. He looked her dead in the eye, and squeezed her fingers.

“Yeah,” He said, and her jaw fell just a little, “have been for a while.”

She laughed, a bright noise that made him smile.

“Oh well thats a relief.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, ‘cuz I’ve definitely been flirting with you too.”

“Oh well then yeah, definitely a relief.”

She smiled and they stood, a bit awkward in the alley for a second, staring at each other, still holding hands. It took a second, but she finally spoke again.

“Hey John, remember how I said I’ve been flirting with you?” She asked, half smiling.

“You mean like.. 3 seconds ago? Yeah.” He said, standing weirdly in front of her.

“Well, that was an invitation to kiss me. Just so we’re clear.” She said, grinning.

“Oh…. well if thats what it was.” He said, grinning back, stepping into her space, taking his spare hand and cupping her jaw, running his thumb over the bit of her tattoo that curled across her cheek, and leaned in, and kissed her. Her lips were soft under his, and he moved her back a little so she was up against the wall and he pressed his body up against her, bringing his hand down from her face to find her waist, wrapping around her and holding her close. They kissed like that for a while, pressed against a wall, still holding hands, until a soft sigh escaped her lips when he pressed a kiss under her jaw, and he pulled back smiling.

“Flirting with me, huh?”

“Yeah, somewhere between a chips ahoy cookie from a ziploc and competing for ‘worst childhood’, you kinda arew on me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He said, smirking at her. She laughed, pressing another kiss against his mouth. They walked out of the alley towards the campus, chattering the whole way about nothing at all, holding hands the whole way.


End file.
